Australia vs South Africa: Second Test Match 2022 – Day 3

Match: Australia vs South Africa | Second Test Match 2022 | Day 3

Dates: 26th December 2022 – 30th December 2022

Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)

Teams – Australia vs South Africa:

South Africa’s playing XI – 2nd Test Match

Dean Elgar (c), Sarel Erwee, Theunis de Bruyn, Temba Bavuma, Khaya Zondo, Kyle Verreynne (wk), Marco Jansen, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Anrich Nortje, Lungi Ngidi

Australia’s playing XI – 2nd Test Match

Pat Cummins (c), David Warner, Usman Khawaja, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Green, Alex Carey (wk), Mitchell Starc, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon

Australia vs South Africa – Toss:

Australian Captain Pat Cummins had won the toss and decided to put South Africans in to bat.

Australia vs South Africa: Match Report – Day 3

As it Happened:

Another day of test match cricket belonged to the Australians as they piled runs and delivered the knockout punch to the Proteas. Australia were 386/3 at the start of the day with Alex Carey batting on 9 and Travis Head batting on 48.

The start to the day was delayed due to wet weather conditions. Travis Head brought up his fifty straightaways. However, Nortje dismissed him for 51 with a full and straight delivery.

David Warner resumed his innings on 200, after being retired hurt yesterday. Cricket is a funny game. Isn’t it? Yesterday, he scored 200 runs and no bowler had an answer to him. And, today, it was all too different. Nortje dismissed him with the first ball that Warner faced today.

Nortje had two in two as Australia were reduced to 395-5. Cummins also got out cheaply as Australia were 400/6. Nathan Lyon showed some resistance and built a 40-run stand with Alex Carey. He got out for 25 in 17 balls. The wicket brought Cameron Green to the crease. Green was suffering with a broken finger but still chose to bat as his side needed him in the middle#.

He batted valiantly to build a 117-run partnership with Alex Carey. Carey did the bulk of the scoring as the injured Cameron Green tried to stand his ground. In the process of doing so, Alex Carey brought up his first ever Test Match Hundred.

It was a special effort from Carey as he got to his 100 in 133 balls. Eventually, Carey was dismissed by Marco Jansen for the score of 111. The wicket brought Mitchell Starc to the crease who held on for some time as Australia added to their score.

The impressive innings put Australia on top as they went to Tea at 575/8 in 145 overs. Australia declared their innings with a massive lead of 386 runs in the first innings. Rabada picked up two wickets for South Africa while Nortje had three strikes. Lungi Ngidi and Marco Jansen picked up one wicket each.

Australia vs South Africa – Poor Start from South Africa

South Africa’s second innings had the worst possible start as their Captain was dismissed by the Australian Captain after facing only three balls. Cummins had Elgar caught behind for zero as South Africa lost their first wicket for 0.

Erwee and de Bruyn took the score to 15/1 in 7 overs before rain interrupted the play. The day ended without any further play.

Australia look all set to take the series 2-0, with one match to go. An innings victory is nearly certain for them.

What is Test Match?

Test cricket is a form of first-class cricket played at international level between teams representing full member countries of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

A match consists of four innings (two per team) and is scheduled to last for up to five days. In the past, some Test matches had no time limit and were called Timeless Tests. The term “test match” was originally coined in 1861–62 but in a different context.

Test cricket did not become an officially recognised format until the 1890s, but many international matches since 1877 have been retrospectively awarded Test status. The first such match took place at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) in March 1877 between teams which were then known as a Combined Australian XI and James Lillywhite’s XI, the latter a team of visiting English professionals.

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